Students conducting awareness campaigns about the Blue water spaces being connected - Nanovu

They have been part of the Ocean Alliance organising the activities for the week with the march and the International School Suva was a big part of that.

ISS Primary Ocean Coordinator, Hannah Nanovu stated this adding that they had chants for the march, sang a song especially composed for the day at Albert Park and they also had a video for their ocean lunch club Mata ni Uwa, who have been doing awareness campaigns about the Blue water spaces being connected.

Nanovu says they had the oceans festival running in the school where the kids were able to do different activities for those who were not able to attend the march.

Year 5 students Kiana Nanovu and Faustina Tuisiga say they learnt a lot about how plastic just does not disappear as it goes to rivers and out to the ocean through storm drains.

There were 3 chants that they used during the march which were “Stop it, Save it, Think of our future”, “It is bad, it is bad, Sea Pollution is Bad”, and finally “Do not pollute it, Respect it, Revere it”.

ISS Music Teacher, Timothy Ulacake says it is important for their students to know more about the ocean, sustainability and why they need to protect it.

Ulacake further says they were contacted by the organisers for World Oceans Day if they could come up with a song 2 weeks ago, which he also composed titled “Tides are Changing”.

He adds at ISS one of their strengths is creativity and responding, and they encourage their students to be creators.

Ulacake says as a music teacher he needs to showcase that to his students, and with the short time he was given he firstly had to understand the theme, talk about awareness and the issues currently being faced, and the importance of sustaining the ocean.

He adds there is a lot of teamwork is involved with teachers working with students, teachers working as a team within the school boundaries and then working with the community and the different organisations.